Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has sold its French television division for $13M as it looks to tighten its belt. The studio has sold the unit, which produces series including TF1’s spy drama No Limits, to Thomas Anargyros, who is currently Chief Executive of EuropaCorp Television. The move will help the business save up to $3.5M per year. The sale follows the departure of EuropaCorp Chief Executive Marc Shmuger last week following the disappointing performance of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The deal will see Anargyros take rights to some series, such as Taxi Brooklyn, which are co-developed and produced with its English-language television division but the company has no plans to sell this unit, which is currently in production with a second season of Taken for NBC.

ProSiebenSat.1, the German commercial broadcaster, is searching for a new Chief Executive after Thomas Ebeling revealed he would be leaving by the end of February 2018. Ebeling has run the broadcaster since the start of 2009. In the interim, Conrad Albert has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the company’s executive board as it hunts Ebeling’s replacement. “Our search for a successor focuses on a personality that continues the outstanding work of Thomas Ebeling and continues to drive diversification and digital transformation with equally entrepreneurial vision and assertiveness,” said Werner Brandt, Chairman of the supervisory board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media.

Red Arrow

French cop drama Falco, which is based on German police drama The Last Cop, is to be remade in Latin America after Narcos producer Dynamo optioned the rights. The company, which co-produces the Netflix drug drama, has acquired the Hispanic rights from distributor Red Arrow International. It will produce the version in association with Spiral International. It will be show-run and directed by Mexican filmmaker Ernesto Contreras. The drama, which follows a cop who wakes up after 25 years following being shot in the head, will go into production at the end of the month.

TI Productions UK, the fledgling production arm of publishing company Time Inc, has scored a documentary commission from A+E Networks UK’s Crime + Investigation channel. The company is to make Britain’s Forgotten Serial Killer: Trevor Hardy, which will explore the Manchester serial killer who committed a number of horrific murders in the 1970s. The one-off film, which will air in 2018, will be fronted by forensic and legal medicine specialist Dr Jason Payne-James and will focus on previously unseen personal letters and documents found in Hardy’s prison cell after his death. It was commissioned by CI Director Koulla Anastai and will be exec produced by Miki Mistrati. It is the company’s second commission after making Stacey Dooley Investigates: Kids Selling Drugs Online for BBC3 earlier this year.